“‘No More Cryin’ is a love song, but not in the way you would think,” Perry said in a statement. “It starts in one place, and builds and lands somewhere entirely different. It’s got many overtones, and can be applied to so many different kinds of relationships, including my own relationship with past isolation.”

Perry wrote the song Semisonic’s Dan Wilson. It was the first tune they created when they met up on the advice of a manager. “I was told he had written a very big record [“Not Ready To Make Nice”] with the Dixie Chicks,” says Perry. “We got together and just started sketching. I wrote this instrumental section and it just kept growing. I kept his acoustic guitar parts and then started building harmonies around the lead vocals parts. It all grows into this sort of Portuguese Philharmonic moment.”

The song also features veteran studio drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Devin Hoffman, guitarist Thom Flowers and organist Booker T. Jones. “I’ve always loved Booker T. & the M.G.’s and I even patterned my early bands after them,” says Perry. “In my home studio, I have a picture of us jamming together on this song. Working with him was such a thrill.”

Traces arrives on stores on October 5th. Perry has been very coy about his possible touring plans to support the album. Beyond a couple of extremely brief appearances with the Eels in 2014, he hasn’t performed onstage since his 1995 solo tour. He did appear with his former bandmates in Journey when they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005 and just last year when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he didn’t sing on either occasion.